Blood That Wasn't Shed Still Remains
by TheUnforgiven137
Summary: Bloody/depressing one-shots on the themes of alternate endings, storylines, and universes. Short summaries are included at the beginnings of each one-shot. Rated M for blood and violence.
1. Endless Loop

_Summary:_

_Joshua wants Neku to shoot him at the end of their game, and he's stuck repeating the events of the original three weeks until he can make him do it._

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**Endless Loop**

Neku saw the boy running towards him out of the corner of his eye and he turned, ready to jump out of the way in case the he decided to run into him. It was the boy's face that made him stop. It was the look of cold-blooded murder that made him stumble backwards several steps, the ashen haired boy stopping just a few yards in front of him, raising the gun in his hand.

"W-who are you?" Neku stuttered out. He stared at the boy as the fear he felt settled in his chest, causing a shooting pain to rip through his torso, which in turn made his breath catch.

"Kiryu Yoshiya. But you can call me Joshua." The boy said calmly. He bowed slightly. "Nice to meet you, Sakuraba Neku." Neku's eyes widened.

"How—how do you know my name?" Joshua giggled.

"We've met before, of course. Although you wouldn't remember that, now would you?" Neku couldn't formulate a response, simply staring at the gun in Joshua's hand. "It's just a huge cycle for me, so it doesn't really matter what I do to you here as long as I succeed in my mission." He smiled cruelly, circling around Neku as Neku tried to back away. Neku knew he was in trouble when he felt his back bump into the mural, the cold from the concrete seeping through his skin. He tried to look for a way out, but he had a creeping feeling that Joshua would simply shoot him before he made it anywhere where he could call for help.

It was too late anyway. Joshua was already mere inches from his face, his warm breath making Neku's skin crawl. The gun in his hand was firmly pressed to Neku's chest.

"What do I have to do to make you do it, hmm? How violent must I make this murder? How many times must your blood paint these walls until you understand?" Neku simply stared, uncomprehending and barely able to hear with his heart pounding so loudly. He felt Joshua's fingers wrap around his wrist, pulling it up in front of their eyes. The pressure of the gun left his chest, Joshua producing a sharp dagger seemingly from nowhere.

Joshua rested the dagger on Neku's wrist, Neku trying to pull his arm away but finding that the boy's grip was much stronger than it seemed. His other arm seemed to not want to cooperate with his brain's commands. Joshua pulled the dagger slowly across Neku's wrist, pushing the blade deep into his skin, and Neku sucked in a sharp breath. The blood pooled up around the blade, dribbling down his arm and dripping onto the ground. Neku watched in horror at the amount of blood flowing from him, trying to stem it with his other hand.

He didn't see Joshua moving the blade again until he felt it plunge into his chest. Neku screamed, the blade working its way deeper through the flesh between his ribs. He started to slump, his body sliding down the wall until it rested on the ground. Neku coughed and heaved, blood flying from his mouth and dripping off his chin as he gasped and fought for air. Joshua stared cruelly down at him.

"Your blood is the most beautiful crimson." He remarked coolly. He squatted down in front of Neku, bringing the gun up so that the end rested on Neku's forehead. Neku stared ahead, his eyes full of terror and pain, unable to focus anymore. "Now then, Neku… won't you die for me?"

There was a deafening bang; Neku's blood painted the entire wall above him, dripping from the face of the graffiti reaper who watched the scene without feeling. Neku's body slid sideways, the blood behind him streaking across the wall in an arc, and came to rest with his cheek pressed against the cold ground. His eyes were staring blankly ahead, the life completely gone from them.

Joshua reached out and closed Neku's eyes, pulling a pin from his pocket. The white skull adorning it flashed in the fading light of the day. He pinned it to Neku's bloodstained shirt.

"I'll see you in a week, dear proxy. Do your job right and shoot me when the time comes. I'm tired of doing this over and over."

* * *

Three Weeks Later

* * *

"Life's little crossroads are often as simple as the pull of a trigger." Neku held the gun loosely in his hand. It was almost time for the final stage. "Let's play a game, shall we? It's simple; I'm going to count down from 10. On one, we shoot. See? Easy."

"You're a monster." The lines were always nearly identical. It was Neku's anger that mattered.

"10… 9…" Joshua started his countdown, coolly raising his gun, taking aim at Neku's heart. The tears were once again falling from Neku's eyes, soon he would also raise his gun, and then Joshua would know if he had succeeded or not. Did Neku hate him enough to pull the trigger?

"6…5…4…" Neku's gun was still aimed steadily at him. Just two more seconds. Neku always put his gun down at the mark of two. Just before Joshua would have to pull the trigger and restart the cycle all over again at square one.

"3…2…" Neku's gun didn't falter. His eyes burned with hate. _Could it be? _"1." There was a deafening bang once more, but this time, there was something missing. There was something different. Joshua hadn't felt his gun kick back as he had shot. He hadn't shot. And now he could feel warm blood soaking through his shirt. He looked down in shock, sinking onto his knees.

He looked up at Neku, seeing the guilt in his eyes. He couldn't help but smile. He had finally done it. He had finally done enough to push Neku over the edge. He fell forward, hitting the ground of his personal chamber with a dull thud. He could probably heal himself if he tried—the bullet had missed his heart—but he didn't want to try. Much to Joshua's surprise, he felt Neku's hands on him, turning him over, holding him gently.

"Joshua… what—what have I done?" The tears were falling from his eyes again, dripping onto Joshua's face. Joshua's eyebrows converged on his forehead. Neku wasn't supposed to feel sorry. He was supposed to still be angry. Angry enough to kill someone out of revenge and feel no remorse. But why were these tears falling on his face?

"Neku…" Joshua reached up and touched Neku's face, wiping away a tear but leaving a streak of blood in his wake. "Don't cry for me. I already murdered you so many times. I don't deserve your tears. I had to make you hate me. You had to kill me. I was stuck in a loop, reliving this game over and over again. The only way to break it is if someone else takes Shibuya from me. Shibuya itself has placed me under this curse, because it knows how I wanted to destroy it."

"But… but you don't want to destroy it anymore, do you?" Joshua shook his head.

"Shibuya does not care. It no longer trusts me. That's why you must be the new Composer and appease it. Take my place and care for this city."

"I can't do that! How can I take care of this city? I couldn't even take care of myself…" Joshua smiled reassuringly.

"Don't worry, Neku. Shibuya understands you. Shibuya will take you under its wing." Joshua's eyes slowly drifted closed, the smile still resting on his face.

"Joshua… Joshua! You can't do this to me! I didn't ask for this!" His cries went unanswered as Joshua's soul burst into static. "How can you only explain yourself after I've done something I can't take back?" He whispered into the air.

Neku sat still, his arms empty, the tears still rolling from his eyes as the light enveloped him, crowning him as the new ruler of Shibuya.


	2. Once You Pull the Trigger

_Summary:_

_Neku's shot Joshua, and he regrets it, but he can't take it back. 1__st__ person from Neku's POV._

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**Once You Pull the Trigger, All That's Left is Death**

I hadn't meant to do it. I didn't _want_ to do it. But somehow, my finger tensed on the trigger, and I shot the only person who ever really understood me. I killed him. All the anger and hurt I felt in that moment, knowing that he had betrayed me, used me for his own selfish ends… I had pulled the trigger before I even knew what I wanted. Before I realized what it meant.

Now he's lying there, not moving, and I don't know what to do. I drop the gun and I scramble forward, nearly slipping on the slick blood coating the floor. The smell rises up to reach my nostrils, and I gag several times and fall onto my knees next to Joshua's lifeless body. I can feel the blood seeping through my shoes and my shorts, and my eyes are fixed on the fount of all this blood; the deceptively small hole over his heart that I caused.

I look at up at his face. His eyes are staring blankly, and on his face remains an expression of shock. I feel the tears welling up again, and I see my shaking hand moving on its own, covering the bullet hole. I simply stare for a long time, unable to tear my gaze from his dead eyes, my hand unable to move from the bleeding wound in his chest.

When my eyes finally decide to move, they head straight towards the gun still resting in Joshua's hand. My bloodied hands move on their own once more, lifting the gun and his hand together, bringing the barrel to rest over my heart. My hands are shaking and the tears are blurring my vision as I move his lifeless hand. Our fingers curl around the trigger together, and I hear the deafening shot and it's only a moment before I feel the familiar pain. I fall backwards, our bloodstained hands settling together with the gun on the ground as everything quickly goes numb. My eyes drift closed as I think my final thoughts.

_I'm sorry Joshua. I failed you and myself. And now here we lie together; your life has left and mine is leaving._ _This is the kind of scene that would be poetic, but in real life there is no beauty; only tragedy._

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_Author's Note: First off, thanks to everyone who reviewed and favorited/followed! I normally respond to all the reviews I get, but I can't PM for guests... I wish you guys would get accounts so I could talk to you!  
_

_Anyway, this one ended up being pretty short... pretty drabbledy really. I hope you guys enjoy it anyway. More one-shots to come, but it may take a little while.  
_

_-Dante  
_


	3. The World is Silent

_Summary: Joshua visits Neku's grave._

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The world was silent today. The grey haired boy was used to more noise. Not the monsters—although those were certainly plentiful as well—but sound. He was used to the bustling of the city, the haphazard thoughts of the people constantly moving through it. And most of all, he was accustomed to hearing the heartbeat of Shibuya—the tune that wove everyone and everything together, finally restored to a semblance of balance after that game.

But not today. The world was silent. That heartbeat still thrummed, but the almost mocking tune was lost to the boy. He simply couldn't hear it. And he knew exactly why. That reason was sitting plainly in front of him, somehow staring him down though it bore no eyes.

The flowers he held in his hands slowly wilted as his grip tightened, his eyes stinging with the threatening tears. He closed his eyes for a moment, turning his face towards the darkened sky, wishing he could fly off and forget about all of this. Forget about all the things he did.

It would be so simple. Throw the wall up around himself and fly away. Forget. Wash it away. Destroy the other's memory. But something in him tied him to this place; tied him to that other boy. He couldn't leave him behind, no matter how badly his soul cried for him to give up.

Finally looking back down, his eyes rested once more upon the grave in front of him, the carved words jumbled in his mind. He kneeled down, gently resting the flowers in front of the pale stone, settling his hands on his knees in a silent prayer.

_Neku, I know you're out there somewhere, but I still can't pull you back into existence, so I simply ask you to listen._

_Please grant me your forgiveness. I know I don't deserve it, but I swear I never meant for it to end this way. I didn't want it to end this way. I never knew what they were planning, and now because of me… I dragged you into this without understanding exactly what it would mean, and I'm sorry!_

_If you still can't forgive me, please at least keep your trust in me, and I promise, someday I will make it up to you. Someday I will fix this._

An oddly shaped white feather appeared in the boy's hand when he reached behind him, and he laid it softly down in front of the flowers, in turn pulling a knife from his pocket. He solemnly flipped the blade open and gently pulled the cold metal across his palm, letting the blood spill off of his hand and onto the delicate feather.

"I give you a feather from my wing, as a piece of my soul, and I give you my blood, in penance for my crimes. Please accept them as an offering of peace on this day, the anniversary of your death." The boy sat there silently for several more minutes, thinking of the boy buried underneath him. Finally, he stood, brushing the dirt from his knees, and turned.

Before he broke down in front of the invisible presence of his former friend, the boy quickly strode away. He did not see the slight shimmer in the air, the slight disturbance, as the boy called Neku tried to shout after him. Those words did not reach his ears.

The world was still silent. The heartbeat of Shibuya thrummed quietly, as if to pay homage to the scattered soul of the boy who was tied to his grave, unable to reach out. That boy wished for that music to reach his ears once more; to hear the tune of the beautiful world that he was no longer allowed to hear.

But most of all, that boy wished for the other to finally hear his words. To turn and look back at him as he shouted on this same day every year. His wish, which he would give up anything for, was to be able to tell the boy called Joshua, that he was forgiven.

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**Author's Notes: Okay, I just wanted to take a second to apologize for not updating for... 5... months... I've been really busy lately, and the idea that I had for the next chapter didn't really work as I had wanted it to and then I didn't really have any new good ideas for this series for a long time. But finally I finished a new one! It's a little more on the depressing side and less on the bloody side, but I hope you all enjoy it! Thank you for your patience!**

**-Dante**

**P.S. I do have another idea for the next one-shot, and provided I have a little bit of time, I should have it finished within the next two weeks before I head off on vacation. But I didn't just say that in a place where you have proof that I said it. Yeah.**


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